


The Uncrowned Queen

by MontyMarten



Category: Project Wingman (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Fighter Pilots, Gen, Mercenaries, Mostly Canon Compliant, Non-Graphic Violence, Novelization, Slight Canon Divergence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MontyMarten/pseuds/MontyMarten
Summary: Charlotte Blake, better known by her TAC ‘Monarch’, made a living as a mercenary pilot for the thrill and to keep off the streets. So when she returns to her homeland Cascadia only to find it in the midst of a war, she thinks of it as nothing more than just another paycheck. But as the ghosts of her past find their way to her, she gets caught up in the collapse as the world begins to fall apart once again and history repeats. [Girl Monarch]
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	The Uncrowned Queen

Prologue  


**Geismar Air Base, Creole Republic.**   
_**January 9th, 432 AC.** _   
**0500hrs.  
** |============| **  
**

_Another day, another dollar_ , was almost always the waking thought of mercenary pilot Charlotte Blake. It usually served as her reminder to get out of bed in the morning, in spite of her constant state of fatigue. The many scars across her body, most notably the jagged one that ran from just above her mouth and across it down to her chin also fulfilled that role just fine. If she didn't force herself up every morning to work, she'd end up back on the streets where she got those scars. While her job certainly wasn't pretty, it gave her the thrill she wanted and kept her from starving, so she wasn't about to start complaining now.

This particular morning, however, that thought of her next paycheck kept her from murdering the person that had started pounding on the door to her quarters right as she sat up on the edge of her cot. On the other side, she recognized the voices of her two wingmates. Or two remaining wingmates. Their last sortie about a week ago left them down two men, not that Charlotte had been too terribly attached to _them_. The two she was left with, on the other hand, she liked a lot better. Diplomat and Comic were what they were called by most everyone around them, Charlotte included even though she was one of the few that knew their real names.

All three of them made up Hitman Team and were part of the military dropouts that worked in the Sicario Mercenary Corps, and they'd been together long before the leader of the organization decided to recruit them. Charlotte had been with them for almost ten years, ever since she was nineteen, and they were one of the few constants she had in life. And yet there were days, more often than not, where she would have liked to strangle them with her bare hands. Today was no exception.

"Monarch! C'mon, Mon, you up yet?" came the voice of Diplomat from the other side of the door, as if his weird, rhythmic knocking wasn't enough to wake the dead. The shortening of her TAC name in place of her real name used to annoy her, and he'd given Comic the same treatment. Actually Comic got saddled with 'Mick' long before 'Mon' happened. The girls got their revenge by calling him 'Dip', initially because it brought the word 'dipshit' to mind over 'diplomat'. Over time they stuck and now it was just how the three called each other.

"Yeah...I'm up..." Charlotte called through the door, her voice cracking at the end as she involuntarily let out a cough. Thanks to a health issue that got her kicked out of the air force academy, she was left with a chronic cough among other things. Really it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience, so long as she didn't overwork herself in the air. As she leaned forward and balled her fist to cover her mouth while her coughing fit ran its course, the door was opened by Comic and she cracked an eye open as her wingmen stepped into the room. The coughing subsided and she straightened up. Clearing her throat, she mumbled a greeting. "'Morning."

"Well, you sound worse than usual. You feelin' alright?" Comic asked her in the slight drawl she spoke with as she crossed the small room to stand over. As if bordering being freakishly tall at the height of 5'10 and towering over Charlotte normally wasn't enough, Comic was intimidating even when showing concern for them. There was something about her overly stern, tough-love brand of caring that could be both scary and annoying. It didn't help that she was the only one out of the three to actually make it into the Cascadian National Guard. A real stickler for rules, believe it or not. It was just her own rules she preferred following.

"Hell of a way to say 'good morning to you, too, Monarch', isn't it?" Charlotte replied flatly with a slight scowl. Blue eyes looked her up and down before Comic shook her head and sent an exasperated look towards Diplomat. With the lull in conversation, Charlotte looked over Comic's disheveled appearance. She must have been out jogging, since she was dressed in her 'PT uniform' that consisted of black workout shorts and a dull, beige t-shirt. Her light, chestnut-brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that was beginning to come loose. Charlotte raised an eyebrow, surprised she hadn't heard her leave earlier. "At least I don't _look_ nearly as horrible as you do. How long have you been up?"

Comic turned away from her and over to her own cot, pulling out a black duffel bag from underneath it. "Since maybe three, I guess. Figured I would get out and go jogging before the temp got too high."

"You say that as if it ever drops below 70 degrees outside," Diplomat pointed out from the doorway, running a hand through his black hair. Much like Comic, he was also on the taller side, standing at an even six foot. The two of them liked to lord their height over her, not that it mattered since she was the one the boss had put in charge. Diplomat flew as her number two, though, so if she ever kicked the bucket he'd become the flight lead.

With his easygoing and bordering lazy attitude, he wasn't exactly the kind of person fit for the role, which is why he threw a fit when their commander rearranged the formation for good and he got stuck with the spot instead of his cushy role as Hitman 4. Charlotte wasn't any better suited for it but the commander — Kaiser, as he was called — hadn't given any of them a choice in the matter. Charlotte had the focus and drive, she guessed. But with her history and personality, _Comic_ would have been the perfect fit. Yet no matter what changed with the formation Kaiser always made sure Comic remained at the bottom. Comic never told them exactly what got her discharged from the national guard, but whatever it was, it gave Kaiser a reason to play favorites.

Charlotte ran a hand through her own hair, brushing a few dark brown strands out of her face, and couldn't help but agree with Diplomat's comment. They slept with the one window they had open, and it remained open at all times. Even with the occasional light breeze and what the guys running the base claimed was air conditioning, it was still hot as hell. In fact, Charlotte gave up sleeping with a blanket after the first three days. Her sleeping bag had stayed rolled up under her cot ever since then, after spending the early nights crumpled on the filthy, mildew stained floor. The humidity did nothing to help matters.

"Yeah, Dip's right. You've gotta be out of your damn mind to willingly go out in that. Let alone run in it..." Charlotte said at last, clearing her throat again to suppress an unwanted cough as she pushed herself to her feet.

Comic scoffed as she pulled a change of clothes out of her bag, which Charlotte recognized as Sicario's uniform. "Whatever. You idiots say that like y'all don't go out and spend hours in a stuffy old hangar."

"True." Diplomat crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe, chuckling. "But we get _paid_ to do that."

Charlotte stifled a laugh, which forced its way out as a sharp snort, while Comic was not as amused. It was ironic given her name, but the woman had the worst sense of humor ever. Maybe that was the point. That wasn't to say that she didn't agree with the point Diplomat had made, she just wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of getting her to laugh. Not that he wasn't going to try and try until he managed to get her to cave. The two of them never stopped going back and forth.

"Speaking of getting paid, I ran into Empress while I was out," Comic said as she opened the door to the dingy private bathroom they were actually lucky to have. She disappeared inside, cracking the door enough so they could still hear her but Diplomat couldn't see. The mention of Kaiser's wingman, the only other pilot on his team, told Charlotte they were either in trouble or something was finally going to happen. She hoped it was the latter. And it was about time, too, if it was. It'd been too long since their last operation, and they were chomping at the bit for more action.

"Really? Her Highness actually graced you with her presence for a change, did she?" Charlotte asked, not quite as bothered getting dressed in Diplomat's presence. Usually Comic didn't care either, but Charlotte had a few ideas why some days were different. Still, they didn't affect her so none were high on her list of concerns.

She slipped on the bland cargo pants they had to wear around base when they were on duty, before putting on an olive green t-shirt over the sports bra she slept in. Over that, she shrugged on the black MA-1 flight jacket all the pilots in Sicario got. It had the logo of Sicario on one shoulder, a patch of whatever country you were from if you wanted, and a nice name badge with your TAC on it over the breast pocket. She and Diplomat's bore the Cascadian flag on theirs, and although Comic was also Cascadian she refused to wear the flag. And Diplomat and Charlotte knew better than to ask her why.

"'Her Highness'? Pfft, that's rich coming from you, _Monarch_ ," Comic said as she emerged from the bathroom wearing her own uniform. Her hair had been brushed through and pulled into as close to a military regulation bun as she could manage. She went back to her cot and snatched up her own jacket, tying hers around her waist as she spoke. "Anyways, that's actually why I snagged Dip on my way back here. Empress said that Kaiser wants us to report for a briefing ASAP. Guess they need us on an operation."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, slipping her hair-tie off her wrist and tying up her own hair. Another small cough caused some strain to her voice as she asked, "We gonna have to share with Gunsel Squadron or is it just gonna be us?"

It was Diplomat that answered her question, with a mischievous spark in his green eyes. "From what I was told, it sounds like they don't need 'em. They'll probably be pissed, but I for one am looking forward to rubbing it in their smug faces."

"Don't go gettin' your hopes up for nothing," Comic said with a hint of exasperation, heading for the door. "We won't know the details until we get there, so let's go. I'd like to get there before the boss changes his mind. It's about time we get another paycheck, and I'm not in a very sharing mood."

Without another word she stepped around Diplomat and he pushed himself forward and followed Comic out into the hallway. Charlotte didn't hesitate before she followed after them, shutting the door behind her as she did. As they set off down the poorly lit and mostly deserted hallway, she couldn't help but ponder their current contract. The Creole Republic had hired them a little over a month prior, all the way back in December. They'd been offered a rundown base to set up camp, which obviously wasn't very important to their military given the state they found it in. It was small and poorly staffed, but they managed to make do for this long.

Hitman Team had only had maybe three sorties during this time, and when things ended up to be larger scale and more dangerous than expected, Kaiser began to doubt they could handle it. Short, simple fights were what they'd always been best at, and all their time fighting small battles in the Periphery had just made them rigid compared to Assassin Team or Gunsel Squadron. Throw in some recent new recruits, and they hadn't fared too well as of late. If it was just going to be the three of them — and that sounded very likely — chances were that Kaiser didn't think it was going to be too difficult to handle.

From the way things had been with their current employers so far, Charlotte hoped their time here would be coming to a close. There were probably better offers out there, and definitely better places to stay. Places that didn't have mold in some places and dust everywhere. Places that weren't hot and humid. About the only good thing about this base? It was right by a large lake, and while Charlotte wasn't exactly keen on the place, a walk on the shore every once in a while wasn't too bad. Comic and Diplomat had decided to drag her out there one day, and though that visit had been short lived it actually was pretty nice.

Of course, it probably said a lot that the local beach was cleaner than the air base. Mercenaries may be called in to do the dirty work that no one else wanted to, but that didn't mean they got treated well all the time. With how the nearby city looked, Charlotte found it a little hard to believe this was the best they had to offer. But the Creole military had been nice enough to offer up some of their own men to help out with Sicario's own ground crew. They were a tad short staffed in that department, mostly because a fair amount of the pilots owned their own planes and preferred to maintain everything themselves. Either out of pride or paranoia. There were exceptions, such as Kaiser and Empress, that owned their aircraft and out of pride chose _not_ to do the repair work themselves, though.

Still, regardless of that and the bare minimum that Creole had done to make their jobs easier and their stay nicer, this had been one of the slower contracts they'd taken on. There were plenty of small conflicts with more lucrative battles than the ones they'd had this time around. Hitman's last op had been the most exciting battle that had happened in a while, losses and all of that aside. Part of her wanted a challenge or some more of that same excitement, the other still held out a realistic hope that it would be nothing but a simple mission. Didn't matter much in the end, so long as they got to fly and got paid what was owed.

Their walk down the hallway hadn't been long. The barracks weren't very large and not difficult to navigate, as they were split up into a cluster of small buildings. Two doors on each end, one long straight hallway, and a bunch of cramped rooms with numbers on the doors. Diplomat opened the door for Comic and Charlotte to step out and then followed behind them. Outside wasn't much better. There were lamp posts outside every building, making a row all the way down and offering more than enough light before the sun was up. The area wasn't paved, and the pathway that led to the sidewalk along the perimeter of the barracks' location was simply dirt and gravel.

By now activity was already starting around the base, but it was still a bit quieter than usual. It was warm, as always, but this time accompanied by a light breeze that Charlotte was grateful for. It was early January, but if not for a calendar to remind everyone of this, they'd probably have no idea. As the breeze began to subside, Diplomat drew in a deep breath and let it out with a quiet sigh. "Oh, that breeze feels good...hmm, smells like the water, too."

"Wish that breeze would stick around for longer," Charlotte commented, shoving her hands into the pocket of her jacket.

"Tch. Still on about the heat? You two oughta try toughening up one of these days," Comic teased them, the corner of her mouth curling up ever so slightly and into a smirk. "It's the cold weather that really sucks. How come you never complain this much whenever we get sent somewhere up north?"

Charlotte chuckled, well aware of Comic's poor cold tolerance. "At least you can put more clothes on if you get cold. Not a lot you can take off if you get hot."

Diplomat tilted his head back to look up at the sky overhead, quiet for a moment while Comic scoffed dismissively at Charlotte's reply. After a few seconds, he said, "Y'know, it's looking like it'll be a clear day. If all goes well and Kaiser gives us the all clear, what say we hit the beach later? Maybe find something to cook, invite Gunsel and the others along...least we can do if we finally get a chance to show 'em up. Whaddya say?"

Although Charlotte liked the idea, they looked to Comic for her opinion. At first she looked as though she was going to agree, but she didn't answer until she thought it over. And when she did, she didn't sound too sure of what she was saying. "Let's find out what the mission is first before we go makin' any plans. Otherwise you're gonna look stupid if we screw up. Hell, for all I know they're gonna make Gunsel go to babysit us, and I ain't gonna be in a good mood if I have to compete with those glory hounds all day."

"Jeez, a simple 'maybe' can't ever cut it with you?" Diplomat asked her with a huff, and Comic jabbed his arm with her elbow at the comment. He glared at her and winced in pain slightly even though she hadn't elbowed him hard enough to hurt him. Only half-joking, he added, "Just for that, if we get sent out solo, you're gonna have to compete with _me_ all day instead."

"You should know better than to make threats you can't follow up on," Charlotte said, holding back a laugh. If he said that, it only gave Comic more reason to outperform him and usually she'd manage to back him into a bet. She honestly couldn't tell if he enjoyed losing, but sometimes he really didn't bother trying as hard as he could. The reason for that, Charlotte couldn't be sure of, but it'd been the same thing for years. She let out a dry laugh and shook her head. "Comic's gonna wipe the floor with your ass now, Dip, and you know that as well as I do."

Comic and Charlotte laughed at his expense, but he chose not to answer and simply pretended to be hurt by the comment before he snorted and smiled a bit at it. They didn't say anything else for the duration of their walk, which wasn't very long either. The barracks were set up right between the hangars and the two main buildings, with the control tower in between those. There was the main HQ, which had most offices and communications held within, along with the briefing room. The other building was mostly recreation, including the cramped mess hall they were provided with.

There wasn't much to look at on the walk, though, unless you enjoyed staring at a very large, drab field. Or a barely visible, crumbling runway. Within about ten minutes they'd made it to the stuffy main building, and after turning down a series of dully lit hallways they arrived at the briefing room. Charlotte opened the door and led the way inside, where they were met by the rest of the pilots that made up Sicario. That being said, there was still plenty of open seats.

Compared to the rest of the building, and many of the other rooms within it, the briefing room had arguably the best lighting. A windowless room, but the bright LED lights overhead hadn't dimmed or started to flicker yet. In spite of the dreary, dark gray-green panel carpet and the bland white walls, the room was infinitely more cheerful than probably anywhere else on the base. Comic led the way further inside, over to the folding table set up by the door with coffee available to everyone.

"Yo, Hitman!" The three of them looked up as the familiar voice of their AWACS radio officer cut through the silence. Dominic Zaitsev, better known to them both in the air and on the ground as Galaxy, had somehow clawed his way up the ranks of Sicario to serve as their second-in-command. Really he could thank several people's untimely deaths for that and the fact Kaiser blackmailed him into joining just before Empress signed on. With how much Galaxy's outgoing, short-tempered and sometimes lazy personality clashed with Kaiser's no-nonsense way about things, it was nothing short of a miracle Galaxy was as high-up their chain of command as he was.

Galaxy stopped in front of them and tilted his head to the side as he crossed his arms, shifting weight onto one leg. Hazel eyes narrowed on them, but his expression and tone weren't at all strict or intimidating as he told them, "You're late. _Again_."

"Is Kaiser here yet?" Comic asked him as she placed a lid onto the disposable coffee cup she held. She took a sip and swallowed while waiting for his reaction. When Galaxy shook his head not long after, Comic shrugged. "Okay. Then we ain't late."

"Look at it whatever way you want to, but you've been cutting it close. One of these days Kaiser's gonna have your heads," Galaxy said with a scoff, but he was at least somewhat amused. Scratching the side of his mouth where there was the faintest hint of a goatee coming in, he kept talking after checking the watch on his other wrist. "Well, anyways, you probably should sit down before he _does_ get here. You know he doesn't like briefings."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...relax, Galaxy, we won't make him waste his precious time," Diplomat said with a sigh, as dismissive as he could get.

Galaxy chuckled before he began to count off on his fingers and said, "Well, _actually_ you'd be wasting his time _and_ my time _and_ Gunsel's time, soooo..."

Charlotte took a sip of coffee and looked around the room, glancing to the seats where the five pilots of Gunsel Squadron sat. Their current flight lead was the only one who's real name she knew. Whitney Song, called by her TAC name Rifle, was a tall, dark-haired woman probably around the same age as Kaiser and Empress. She had sharp brown eyes, and in spite of her intimidating appearance she was actually very friendly on the ground. She'd been a former flight instructor at the Federation Air Academy, and had joined up alongside her number-two, Gambit, who everyone quickly figured out had been her star student.

The other members of Gunsel Squadron were Mamba, a pretty young woman with black hair and an apathetic attitude that rivaled Charlotte's on one of her bad days. The girl was quiet, and almost inseparable from Gambit. Gunsel 4 was Colt, apparently the son of some arms manufacturer that went down the drain before he could inherit the family business. He had dark skin and brown eyes, and of the members of the squadron was the most easygoing and friendly. And the runt of the bunch was Kimber, who mostly followed Colt or Gambit's lead and was rather forgettable compared to his companions. He really didn't stand out much, and maybe that's what he wanted.

All of them seemed mostly decent on the ground, but when it came to their attitudes and performance in the air? It was really no wonder they were so often Kaiser's first pick as far as missions went. They were a precise and effective team, and with Rifle's judgement as their flight lead they had an almost spotless record. Charlotte wondered how she managed to stay so in tune to her wingmen when she hardly ever socialized with them, but her best guess was that it was something she learned in the Federation Air Force. No one got close enough to know for sure, though.

Towards the back rows of chairs, the handful of replacement pilots they had were carrying out a quiet conversation. One of them, a young woman that mainly worked in maintenance but had a knack for flying, Charlotte had flown with before. Shy on the best of days, she still gave a short nod of greeting when she noticed Charlotte. Ignoring that and returning to her original train of though, Charlotte looked back to Galaxy. "Didn't sound like the mission was that big of a deal. Obviously not that urgent if Kaiser isn't here yet. So, what's with the big gathering?"

"Everyone needs to be on the same page. And someone needs to be ready to bail you out if you happen to get in over your heads," Galaxy answered her, raising an eyebrow. Charlotte and the others chose to ignore his comment, and he crossed his arms again. "Oh, and there's also something else, _buuuut_...you can just find out from the bossman himself."

Galaxy nodded towards the door right as it swung open again, and they looked to the door right as Kaiser himself marched into the room, followed closely by Empress. He seemed in a surprisingly upbeat mood, which wasn't necessarily uncommon but it was a pleasant change of pace. His moods were usually 50/50, and no one wanted to be around him on a bad day. The ever-loyal Empress was about the only one brave (or stupid) enough to be around him on those days.

"Perfect, everyone's already here. Hitman, Galaxy, take a seat so we can get this briefing over with," Kaiser said quickly as he walked pass them. It sounded like Gambit mumbled out a 'finally' as Kaiser took his place at the front of the room, to which he responded with a mild look of warning. As soon as Charlotte and the others quietly sat down, Kaiser moved over to a laptop he had set up on a table right beneath a large map of the area. Technology around the base was also lacking, unfortunately, so they weren't given so much as a projector to hook things up to.

As he began to type something into the computer to get that part set up, he began their briefing to save them all the time. He really did hate briefings, and honestly having official briefings could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Of course, as soon as he began talking it wasn't a mystery what had put him in a good mood. "Alright. As you're probably all aware by now, our contract with this damned backwater place is about to come to an end and...well, _thank God_. I'm sure no one here minds a tropical vacation every once and awhile, but it's not very glamorous considering we're here to work."

His computer chimed as he pulled up a digital version of the map on the wall, centered on their current area of operations with a few key locations pinpointed among some other details. He stepped back with an almost relieved sigh before his brown eyes flicked back towards them. "Anyway, there's just one last thing we gotta take care of before the defense minister releases our contract and we move on to bigger and better. Hitman Team, you haven't gotten much airtime this deployment so you're taking point with this operation. Galaxy, Empress?"

"Right..." Galaxy mumbled as he and Empress stood up to take over their own roles to 'share the load' with Kaiser as he put it whenever they decided to complain. Empress punched in something and the computer screen highlighted a bunch of 3D targets on a specific section at the map, which she then went about pinpointing on the paper map while Galaxy cleared his throat and began to fill them all in. "Ahem. Well, we've confirmed the headquarters of the Burlok Privateer headquarters here, off the coast on the South Western Edge of the Jesta Island Chain."

"If you all remember, they're a mercenary group like us who've unfortunately turned to outright piracy. God only knows why..." It was Empress that spoke next, her voice smooth and cold like Kaiser's and lacking the same charisma Galaxy and even Kaiser had. In the air she was much more fun to be around, at least in Charlotte's opinion, but on the ground — usually only during short contracts like this one — she kept up formalities. A boring suck-up, really.

Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, Empress pointed to a spot she'd pinned on the map and quickly continued. "According to surveillance data gathered around the area, we have determined that they're the culprit of the recent high profile hijacking of the Federation registered Cargo Ship _Meilynx_. While ordinarily it wouldn't seem that important, at least certainly not anything local authorities couldn't solve with a task force or something, the _Meilynx_ is supposedly carrying volatile cargo belonging to the Federation's Department of Global Energy and Sustainability Office."

"How many times do you think she had to rehearse that one?" Diplomat suddenly asked Comic and Charlotte quietly from where he sat between them. He grinned as soon as they reacted, Comic biting back a smile while Charlotte covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. One murderous look from Empress and Kaiser, as well as an exasperated one from Galaxy, promptly shut the three of them up.

Galaxy came to Diplomat's rescue and brought their attention back to business as he picked up where Empress left off. "Anyways, moving on...there wasn't anything really specific we could get out of our Federation contact about the cargo, but our orders are to retrieve it if possible or to neutralize it if we can't. Since attempts to negotiate for it have turned up nothing, we're goin' in."

"Hitman Team, you are to approach the island from the south along with support and swiftly establish control over the area," Empress quickly informed them, a hint of irritation in her tone as she pointed to the different pins that marked everyone's positions. "Your objective is to eliminate any surrounding anti-air and resistance on the island. After that, you will secure an LZ for our operator group 'Ronin' to ascertain the cargo. Once Ronin lands, maintain air superiority until the next stage of the operation is determined. It's simple enough, so we're not sending in anymore than we have to. In other words, it's _just_ you, Hitman."

"As I was telling you earlier, though —" Galaxy quickly cut in with a pointed look at Empress, who waved him off dismissively "— be aware that the Burloks have other merc pilots on tap, so enemy reinforcements could be a factor. Therefore, Gunsel Squadron, you'll be placed on standby in case Ronin and Hitman Team get overwhelmed. I don't expect that much trouble, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be cautious."

Gunsel Squadron all sounded off in agreement, and Kaiser stepped in once again with a tired huff. "Normally, we'd stay out of contact with any Federation-adjacent tasking. Usually it's more trouble than it's worth to get involved, but this _is_ the last thing we need to do for our current contract, so I'm willing to let it slide. Two birds with one stone...easy enough, right? Let's get to work. Dismissed."

Everyone quickly stood up, the sound of chairs shifting and hushed conversation filling in the silence that followed. As Charlotte began to quietly lead the way to the hangars as Gunsel headed out right before them, Kaiser called out for them. "Hitman Team, hold on for just a second! Prez, you wait, too. I want a quick word with you all."

_Prez?_ Charlotte felt a tick in her jaw at the mention of the replacement pilot they'd worked with before, and she glanced over her shoulder to find the young pilot standing awkwardly in place. President, affectionately dubbed 'Prez', was a short but leggy twenty-something year old, with naturally messy black hair she tended to put highlights in. Usually red or something, but recently she'd gone for blonde highlights instead. Great thing about being a mercenary...no strict regulations. So long as you could pull your hair out of the way if you kept it long, and so long as you didn't dye it in some neon rainbow or some super crazy shit, you could do whatever.

That being said, Prez was an awkward person and on the occasion she did speak it was very hard to get her to shut up again. To make up for her lack of talent verbally, she was bold when it came to actions. As far as her flying went, she was reckless and lacked the kind of self-preservation and judgement one might need when engaging targets. And if she didn't like an order, she just wouldn't follow it. After everything Charlotte had put up with lately, she wasn't fond of adding someone else to the mix. And she sure as hell was not fond of that person being Prez.

Although she could already guess that's what they wanted — and why else would they tell Prez to wait? — Charlotte held back an annoyed huff and turned to make her way over to Kaiser. He, Galaxy, and Empress met them halfway while Prez hesitantly approached them all from the back. She kept quiet, standing a few feet away and eyeing Charlotte like she was trying to read her mood or something. Galaxy gave Prez a small, reassuring smile to greet her, and the blank expression she wore turned to an awkward half-smile as she just nodded in reply.

Kaiser didn't waste any time as the space between the groups closed, but he kept his voice down. "I'm pulling Prez from the reserves for the time being and reassigning her to Hitman Team. So, you three, say 'hello' to your new wingman. I figured since you've flown together a couple of times before, then she'd be a good fit."

The three of them turned to Prez and a few quiet, awkward greetings were exchanged. It looked as if Prez was just as caught off guard as the rest of them, and she clearly didn't know what to make of it any more than they did. Still not fond of the idea of flying with someone who wasn't Diplomat or Comic thanks to recent experience, Charlotte took a deep breath and looked back to Kaiser. "Look, no offense intended to either of you, but isn't this a little last minute? For all involved?"

"I know you're weird about changes, but you're down two people and we could use the extra manpower," Kaiser answered stiffly, obviously prepared for her to object. Oh, how well he knew her. "Sorry you don't like it, but it wasn't your decision to make."

To Charlotte's surprise, Prez spoke up in agreement, her tone of voice almost a mix of worried and annoyed. Which incidentally was exactly what Charlotte felt. "Actually, Imma have to agree with Monarch here. I know I asked for a shot at some extra pay, but I wasn't exactly expecting _this_. I mean, adding those other poor sods last time—"

Both Kaiser and Galaxy opened their mouths to interrupt, but it was Empress that got to it first, seemingly more than a little annoyed they were still carrying on. "Well, _this_ is different. He sent out fresh meat last time, and it was a bad call, but you all know what you're doing. Don't want to do it? Fine, don't fly. You want the money, you work for it. Otherwise Kaiser and I can go out with Gunsel, and you four can live off whatever table scraps your pocket money buys you until we get a new contract set up."

"Jeez, do you ever consider getting that stick outta your ass for a little bit?" Comic asked her with a scoff, shaking her head and ignoring the cold look Empress sent her and the frustrated sigh from Diplomat. Comic may have been the pot calling the kettle black but at least she wasn't uptight _all the time_. Empress was always too damned serious, and even Kaiser seemed exasperated by her response. Charlotte just looked between the two with a blank expression, blinking a few times but saying nothing.

It was Galaxy who once again came to the rescue, giving an awkward cough as he stepped away from Kaiser and Empress to join the now apparently _four_ pilots of Hitman. "Look, we've all made some excellent points here and while I love a good argument...I love getting paid more. _So_ , whatever we're gonna do, could we just do it and get this contract over with? Hmm? We can always pick this up later, right?"

"Y'know, Galaxy's got a point." Diplomat sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, not for the first time living up to his name. "I know we haven't had the best luck lately, but it seems like it's gonna be a pretty easy op and an extra bird out there makes it child's play. Not like our other choice is appealing, anyways."

Charlotte looked over at Prez, who seemed uncomfortable with the whole setup but actually gave her an almost hopeful look. She wasn't looking for the responsibility that would come with Prez's presence, but if it meant their stay in this dump would be over soon. That nagging thought she had every morning crept up on her. _Another day, another dollar_. With a deep breath, Charlotte looked once more to Kaiser and frowned. "Fine. Only because I know Prez can hold her own. For the most part, at least."

Although Kaiser said nothing in response to that, she did see him give her a short nod before she turned away and started back towards the door. The others slowly fell in behind her as she led the way. Reaching the door first, she opened it and allowed them all to file out into the hallway, but she hesitated following. Galaxy was the last out, waiting for her while the others kept going, and he gave her a confused look. Taking a breath once the others had some good distance on them, she said just loud enough for Kaiser to hear, "But don't expect _me_ to take responsibility if something goes wrong again."

Without waiting for an answer Charlotte stepped out into the hallway and let the door shut behind her. The comment had been directed mostly at Kaiser, although the same thing stood for Galaxy. Every time their formation had been screwed with — this time now marking the third time such a thing happened — something usually went wrong, and it always came down to just the three of them getting out by the skin of their teeth. Whether it was coincidence or not, their track record hadn't been the best.

Third time was supposed to be a charm, though, and they had past experience with Prez. Even if she'd been with a different squadron on the rare occasion they made her fly, they still fought alongside so at least they weren't going in blind with someone. So long as Prez followed her orders, pulled her weight, and didn't try to pull any dumbass stunts to show off then everything would go smoothly. Just like they'd said during the briefing and like Diplomat had said, it should be a piece of cake. Whatever they had to do to get it done.

As they all stepped outside and made for the hangars, the same reminder repeated in Charlotte's head. _Another day, another dollar_.

* * *

Author's Note: _Guess who found inspiration for the wrong story and decided to start another fic?_

_If I happen to have any readers from Three Strikes reading this, which seems more than likely, then you'd know I'm probably not in any position to be starting a brand new story. Yet, here we are. I watched playthroughs of the first mission or two and some clips shortly after the game came out and fem!Monarch was in the back of my mind but I kinda ignored it for a bit. Thanks to some prompting from a few people that seemed interested in a novelization, I started jotting some stuff down and one thing led to another._

_Even though I really enjoyed the story and the characters, the lack of cutscenes and everything left me wanting a lot more characterization than we got. Especially for characters such as Stardust, Prez, and Crimson 1. As usual, I have a lot of different things planned for the story as well as some obvious changes. Such as Fem!Monarch and Pilot!Prez (I like Prez, but I don't like two-seaters that much). The prologue here is just a snippet to introduce most of the important characters in the story, and give everyone an insight into Charlotte/Monarch's character before things really pick up._

_Next chapter covers the first mission and is coming along nicely so far, but I just wanted to go ahead and get this out there. With my track record and how awful I am at sticking to schedules, I have no idea when it'll be out, but I'm not planning to forget about this story.  
So everyone sit tight, because there's definitely a lot more to come. _ _Hope y'all enjoy and let me know what you think!_


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